The Definition of Intrepid
by Narnian Pirate
Summary: Tintin is assigned a story he's not used to and it's beginning to throw him off. When he first sets sail on The Inquisitor things are going too normal. Tintin begins to wonder if there's more to this ship than meets the eye, especially after he meets her.
1. Chapter 1 Suitcases

**Author's Note: **Ok everyone, fresh start to this story. No more _Titanic_, the ship is now called _The Inquisitor_. Much better in my opinion. But I did keep my OC Audrey Tabard, she's a bit different, but I think better so let me know what you think all the same. Reviews are very much appreciated. For anyone who does not know, I had a story, but decided to change it after a review helped me grow as a writer. So thank you SO much **Daniella the muggle**. Anyways, I hope you like this better. I do. :)

**Disclaimer: **I did not create the Adventures of Tintin.

* * *

><p>Tintin glanced around him and quietly picked up his suitcase.<p>

"Time to go Snowy." He whispered and began to move forward.

Snowy barked in return and followed at his master's heels.

Pulling his coat tightly around himself, Tintin boarded _The Inquisitor_ and headed toward the main deck. The ocean breeze blew gently against his face and he breathed in the fresh sea air, his big, blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

"Nothing like a nice day to set sail, right Snowy?" Tintin turned to where his dog should have been, but to his surprise he wasn't there.

"Hello, Snowy? Where have you gone so quickly?"

Tintin grabbed his suitcase and began wandering around the deck, a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Snowy couldn't have gone far, could he have? What if he'd never made it onto the ship at all?

It wasn't long before Tintin heard Snowy's familiar bark through the loud voices filled with laughter and enjoyment of the others boarding the ship.

This wasn't the seventeen year old boy reporter's average assignment. In fact, he found it funny to think he was allowed to relax during this trip. Usually he was off tracking down gangsters or stuck in some deserted part of the of the world no one has heard about. For some strange reason he felt much more nervous on an assignment like this. He had already faced so many dangers in his young life that the seemly simple story of writing about his trip on the new passenger ocean liner just seemed too…easy maybe? Though he didn't really realize it, Tintin's editor had given him the simple assignment as a kind gesture, believing the boy was working too hard for someone his age. Tintin had unfortunately taken this as insult, thinking that his editor had given him the story to show him that his most recent stories weren't up to par. Tintin also began to think that there was a possibility that there was more to this story than what meets the eye.

Tintin wasn't a bitter person, but at the moment he was feeling a bit unwanted after assigned the simple story.

"Snowy? What are you doing?" Tintin yelled when he saw what his dog was doing.

"No, give that back this instant!" Cried a girl about Tintin's age. She was tall, but it seemed that Snowy had somehow gotten hold of her sandwich and wasn't too keen on giving it back.

"Snowy! Put that down right now!" Tintin called again and marched up to his dog, pulling him away from the sandwich.

The girl had been holding onto the other half of the sandwich and when Tintin tried to pull his little, white terrier away the sandwich came with him.

Snowy chewed happily and Tintin got a look of shock on his face.

The girl stood up straight, she had been kneeling a bit to get the sandwich from Snowy.

She stared at him, furrowing her brow and crossing her arms.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I can assure you that Snowy isn't usually like this. What kind of sandwich was that anyways?"

The girl glanced at Snowy, then back at Tintin. "Snowy seems to enjoy salami."

The girl began to laugh and came forward to pat Snowy's head, who was still chewing the last remains of the salami sandwich.

She looked back up at Tintin's face.

"Hey, I know you! You're that reporter, Tintin, am I right?"

Tintin was a bit surprised at the fact that she knew who he was. Then again, he was always forgetting how famous he had become. He was a bit dumbstruck, considering that the girl was rather cute. Not beautiful, but cute. Now that he had a minute to look at her he noticed she had almost the same coat as him. They were both tan with bronze buttons, but hers stopped at the waist and had a belt with a bronze buckle to match the buttons. Her eyes were a brilliant turquoise that sparkled in the sunlight and her hair was a sandy brown tied back in a ponytail with bangs in the front.

"You're right, I am Tintin." He replied to her awkwardly, he wasn't quite sure how to respond to her comment.

The girl nodded, obviously not sure what to say as well. "Well, I'm Audrey, Audrey Tabard. I'm a reporter too… not famous yet though." She added quietly and stuck out her hand for him to shake.

Tintin sat Snowy down and warned him to behave himself before shaking Audrey's hand.

"Well, I actually had better find my way to my cabin. Wouldn't want to get lost before we even set sail." She smiled and picked up her suitcase.

"Oh, yes, of course. Sorry about your sandwich. " Tintin smiled.

"It's fine, it's not like I can't get another."

Audrey gave a quick wave and disappeared in the crowd.

"Come on now Snowy, and stay close!" Tintin warned before setting off.

It took them a while, since Tintin wanted to stop and take notes on everything, but eventually him and Snowy made it to their cabin. It was small, but not too small. There was a little bed, armchair, and a desk in the corner with a mirror and a little restroom. It was doable, Tintin had been in much worse places.

Sighing as he sat down in the armchair, Tintin pulled his notepad out of his pocket.

"So Snowy, we've already got ourselves a good lead. '_The Inquisitor_ is a work of superlative craftsmanship.' How is that Snowy?"

Snowy jumped on the bed and lied down. He gave a little huffing noise and rested his head on his paws.

"Oh, I know Snowy. It's miserable! Why would he ever give me a story like this? It just doesn't…feel right." He moaned and closed the notepad.

Checking his watch, he realized that he'd better get settled in before he had to get ready for dinner. Tintin stood up and lifted his suitcase onto the bed. He quickly undid the buckles.

"Great snakes! How did this happen?" Tintin exclaimed, examining the contents of the suitcase.

Inside were the clothes of a young lady, some notebooks, pencils, and…a gun.

"A gun! What would she be doing with a** gun**?" Tintin exclaimed under his breath.

_I must have picked up Audrey's suitcase by mistake._ He thought.

Then he began to think, what if it wasn't a mistake, maybe she'd planned to switch suitcases? Audrey had seemed rather interested that he was a reporter too. Maybe she was in on something he didn't know? And why would she need a gun?

Tintin shook his head to clear the thoughts, believing he was just being paranoid. Still, things were going too normal, that is, until now. The story assignment, the friendly girl reporter…but things weren't fitting together just yet. He needed more time to find clues, but that gun. That's what made him the most suspicious. Things were getting more peculiar by the moment.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

Ttintin rushed to pack everything back in the suitcase, then opened the door. Just as he had expected.

"Hello Tintin, I'm sorry, but I believe you grabbed my suitcase." She said coldly and held out his own suitcase.

"Ah, yes, I just…realized." He stumbled and gave her back her own suitcase.

"See you at dinner then?" He asked, trying to cover for her coldness.

"Yes, see you." She replied and turned away without another word.

_That was odd. What's going on? She was so nice before._ Tintin thought once she had gone.

When he checked his suitcase nothing was out of place and everything was still there.

_I'm just being_ _mistrustful._ He convinced himself as he began to get ready for dinner.

A half an hour later he was ready.

"How do I look Snowy?" Tintin asked, looking in the mirror and straightening his tie.

Snowy wagged his tail furiously and barked at his handsome owner.

Tintin tried to smooth down his gingery quiff, but it automatically sprung back into place. He sighed.

"Oh well, I guess I've kind of grown accustomed to that funny piece of hair."

As he was about to leave the cabin, Snowy pounced at his leg.

"I'm sorry Snowy, but I don't think they allow dogs in the dining room."

Snowy sat down and stared up at Tintin with big, intelligent, amber eyes.

"I'll bring you some leftovers Snowy, just be patient. Promise you'll be a good boy while I'm gone."

Snowy made no attempt at a response, so Tintin left the cabin. Closing the door securely behind him, he headed to the dining room.


	2. Chapter 2 Dining and Dancing

**Author's Note: **Hi guys, thanks for being patient with my updates. I hope you like this chapter, I quite enjoyed writing it. Thanks again to **Daniella the muggle** and to everyone else who reviewed my story so far. Suggestions and comments are welcome. Please leave a review. It means a lot. Enjoy! :)

* * *

><p>As he walked down the hall, Tintin puzzled about what was going on with Audrey.<p>

_She's a reporter._ He thought. _Reporters don't need guns._

Then he grinned sheepishly, he was a reporter and he often needed a gun.

When he finally reached the dining room it was quite crowded so he had to push his way around a bit to find his seat. When he did he was, of course, sitting right down next to Audrey Tabard. She smiled at him.

"Oh, hello Tintin. I was hoping we'd be seated next to each other. If you don't mind I'd like to ask you some questions." Audrey said cheerfully and pulled out a notepad and pencil from her clutch purse that was sitting on the table in front of her.

"No, of course not…" His voice trailed off.

"Is something the matter?" Audrey asked, her expression changing from bliss to confusion in the blink of an eye.

Tintin, quite unaware that he was frowning, was deep in thought.

_How could this girl act like nothing is the matter after that cold look before?_ He wondered.

Hearing Audrey's voice again snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What? No, no. I was just thinking. Anyways, what was it you were planning on asking me?"

"Oh, I was just curious if you'd tell me about a few of your adventures and if you have any advice for a budding reporter like myself."

Tintin nodded thoughtfully and began to tell Audrey about his recent trip to London where he uncovered a group of infamous gangsters.

"What a coincidence, I'm from London and was covering that story as well. Unfortunately you were able to solve it before I was."

"I'm sorry about that."

"No, no, it's not a big deal." Audrey smiled and her bright, turquoise eyes sparkled again.

Tintin thought she looked rather pretty with her dark blonde hair in an updo and wearing a long, lacy, sky blue dress.

"So, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

"Well, I've been living in London for a while now. I used to live in the countryside, but came to the city to pursue my career. I've always loved writing. It's quite surprising actually how supportive my parents were to the idea of sending their teenage daughter off by herself. It was a huge risk for them and I know it was a difficult decision."

"So, how old **are** you?"

"Sixteen."

Tintin almost fell of his chair. He thought he was the youngest reporter and here was this sixteen year old English girl who was younger by a whole year!

"Wow, that's amazing."

Audrey blushed. "Yes, my parents were awful proud. My father is a sea captain like your comrade Mr. Haddock, he was gone most of the time when I was young, but we keep in touch often enough. Before I left for London he gave me this."

Audrey reached up and thoughtfully touched the pin in her hair. It was white and carved into the shape of a whale.

"But Mother died a year ago. Father sold the house and is at sea all the time now. I haven't seen him in a few months, but he promised we'd meet again soon."

Audrey shrugged and gave a little smile. Tintin could see the sadness reflecting in her eyes.

Not knowing how to handle a lady, Tintin gently patted Audrey on the back a few times awkwardly and tried to smile back at her.

The two were fairly quiet for the rest of dinner besides a casual comment here or there.

Later that night music began. Audrey rested her face in her hands, staring dreamily at the whirling couples.

Tintin cleared his throat. "Ahem, Audrey?" His voice cracked and he blushed, but Audrey didn't seem to notice much.

"Hmm?" She mumbled, still in a daze.

"I was curious…would you care to dance?"

Audrey's face lit up, but her response was interrupted.

"Blistering barnacles! What are **you** doing here Tintin?"

Audrey and Tintin both turned in surprise to see the Captain coming straight for them.

"Why, Captain, I told you I had a new assignment. What are **you** doing here?"

"I'm visiting my old sea mate, he's the captain of this fine vessel. You didn't tell me your assignment was on a ship."

Tintin blushed again, he hadn't told the Captain about the assignment purposely. He didn't want to tell him that the newspaper was demoting him.

"Why Tintin, who, may I ask, is this?" Haddock asked suspiciously, taking Audrey's hand and kissing it. She blushed.

"Oh, my, how rude I am. Captain this is Audrey Tabard. She's a reporter as well, and is even younger than I am."

Audrey nodded. "You must be the prominent Captain Haddock. I've heard a lot about you. It's an honor sir."

The Captain seemed a bit stunned and pulled nervously on the tie he was wearing. "Well…I…" He stumbled.

"She didn't say **what** she heard about you." Tintin grumbled and the Captain glared at him.

"Well, I must be off for now. I'll leave you two love birds to yourselves." He mumbled, before staggering away from the table.

"Love birds? How…why would he say that?" Audrey scoffed, glancing curiously at Tintin.

"Oh, just ignore him." Tintin laughed.

Audrey laughed too and leaned over the back of her dining room chair. Then sighed.

"It's getting late. I should probably get back to my cabin now."

Tintin instantly stood up. "Oh! Well, let me accompany you then."

Audrey smiled. "Well, I suppose that would be fine."

Audrey grabbed her purse and took Tintin's outstretched hand.

They walked down the silent halls quietly until Audrey linked arms with Tintin.

He could feel his face growing warm and there was a funny smile on his face.

"Here we are." Audrey whispered, stopping in front of a door.

Tintin nodded as Audrey unlinked arms with him and unlocked the door.

"Thank you Tintin. Maybe you, Haddock, and I could go to the show playing tomorrow evening. I've heard good things about it."

"That sounds nice. I'll let you know."

Audrey smiled, her big, turquoise eyes shining again. Then she gave a little wave and closed the door.

Tintin figured he should get back to his own cabin.

When he did, Snowy was quite happy to see him and quite appreciated the bits of meat Tintin had managed to save back for him.

"Ah, good boy." Tintin sighed, sitting down in the armchair and reaching into his pocket.

"Why, my notepad has gone missing! Hang on a second…I didn't take it out of my pocket since right before I left for the dining room and I put it back in before I left."

Tintin didn't want to place any blame yet, but things were getting suspicious very quickly.


End file.
